Packaging assembling apparatus



J1me 1969 E. R. CUNNINGHAM ETAL PACKAGING ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Sheet 0:2

Filed April 10, 1967 ATTORNEYS E. R. CUNNINGHAM ET AL 3,447,280

PACKAGING ASSEMBLING APPARATUS June 3, 1969 Sheet Filed April 10, 1967Ru 1 rr BY mum-A Fap nfiq ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,447,280PACKAGING ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Ernest R. Cunningham, Libertyville, 11].,and John Hohl,

Bern, Switzerland; said Hohl assignor to Owens-Illinois,

Inc., a corporation of Ohio, and said Cunningham assignor to IllinoisTool Works, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 10, 1967, Ser.No. 629,472 Int. Cl. B65b 21/24, 13/16, 27/04 U.S. Cl. 53-48 12 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for assembling resilientapertured carriers with groups of bottles to form packages convenientfor carrying. Carriers are deposited on top of groups of bottles movingin spaced relation on a conveyor, then telescoped over the shoulder andinto embracing relation with the body of the bottles to form packages.

It is common practice to merchandise many items such as canned foods,beer, soft drinks, or the like, in packages made up of a number ofindividual containers, with the package normally including a handle orother means to facilitate carrying the package. These packages areconventionally formed by feeding the individual containers onto a movingconveyor in two parallel, side-by-side rows, or files, and forming thecontainers into individual packages consisting of a like predeterminednumber of containers from each file. Thus, to form the well-knownsix-pack, the containers are formed into groups consisting of two filesof three containers each, i.e., two files by three ranks.

One apparatus which is capable of assembling a group of bottles into apackage is disclosed in a copending application entitled, Method andApparatus for Packaging Containers, Ser. No. 428,406, filed Jan. 27,1965, now Patent No. 3,404,505, in the names of John Hohl (one of theinventors in the instant application) and Thomas L. Scribner, andassigned to one of the assignees of the present application. In thisco-pending application, the bottles are fed onto a moving conveyor inspaced groups, and a resilient plastic apertured carrier is depositedonto the individual groups of bottles moving on the conveyor, with anaperture in the carrier surrounding the neck and resting on the shoulderof each bottle in the group. The carrier is subsequently advanced overthe shoulder and into embracing relation with the body portion of thebottles to form a package.

While the apparatus of the above identified co-pending application iscapable of forming groups of bottles into packages in the mannerdisclosed therein, it, and other known package forming apparatus of thisgeneral type, is not entirely satisfactory in that it cannot be readilyemployed to form packages of difiering sizes. For example, such anapparatus employed to form the conventional six-pack cannot readily beemployed to form a four-pack or an eight-pack. Also, the number ofcontainers packaged by these prior devices remains substantiallyconstant regardless of the number of containers in each package so thatthe number of packages produced in a given length of time variessubstantially inversely as the number of containers in each package.

The present invention pertains to a method and an apparatus for forminga package similar to that formed by the apparatus disclosed in the aboveidentified copending application and is, therefore, an improvement overthe invention disclosed therein. Accordingly, it is the primary objectof this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus forassembling bottles into packages convenient for carrying.

Another object is to provide an improved method and apparatus forassembling a resilient apertured carrier onto a group of bottles to forma package.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus which may readily beemployed to form packages of different sizes.

Another object is to provide an apparatus which is capable of producingsuch packages at a substantially constant rate regardless of the numberof containers in each package.

The foregoing and other objects are attained in an apparatus adapted foruse with a high speed filling and capping machine to receive the filled,capped bottles issuing from the machine and form them into packages suchas the familiar four, six, or eight-pack conventionally employed tomerchandise soft drinks and beer. The bottles to be packaged are fed bya novel feeding mechanism onto a horizontal belt conveyor in spacedgroups by rank and file, typically two ranks by three files, or tworanks by four files. The groups of bottles maintain their initial spacedrelation on the conveyor throughout their movement through the packageforming apparatus.

From the group forming mechanism, the spaced groups of bottles passbeneath a carrier feeding mechanism where a resilient apertured carrieris deposited loosely on top of each group with the neck of each bottlein the group projecting through an aperture in the carrier. The carrierfeeding mechanism automatically severs the individual carriers from anelongated strip of carriers, so that the individual carriers arepermitted to drop free in timed relation with respect to the movement ofthe bottles on the conveyor. The groups of bottles with the carrierpositioned thereon then move through the carrier applying station wherea plurality of individual carrier applying heads each engage the carrieron a separate group of containers to advance the carrier over theshoulder and into embracing relation with the body portion of thebottles of a plurality of groups of bottles simultaneously as the groupscontinue to move on the conveyor. From the carrier applying station, thepackaged bottles may move to a separate wrapping, banding or casingapparatus, as desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following specification taken with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view schematically showing a packageassembling apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view along line 22 of the apparatus shown inFIG 1 illustrating a mechanism for forming bottles into groups on theconveyor of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 andillustrating the carrier separating feature of the carrier feedingmechanism;

FIG. 4 is a schematic showing of a mechanism employed to apply andshrink a heat-shrinkable wrapping onto the package formed by theapparatus;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a package having a heatshrinkable wrappingloosely formed thereon;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the completed package; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3 and illustrating an alternateembodiment of the carrier separating mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, an apparatus embodying the presentinvention as illustrated as including an infeed conveyor 1 for receivingfilled bottles discharged from a high speed filling and capping machine,not shown. The infeed conveyor moves the bottles into a novel groupingand feeding mechanism 2 which forms the bottles into suitable groups byrank and file, typically 3 two ranks by two, three, or four files, withfour files being illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 the group forming mechanism comprises a pair ofshafts 3, 4 supported by suitable brackets, not shown, for rotationabout spaced parallel axes extending transversely across conveyor 1above the top of the bottles 5. A pair of sprocket wheels 6, 7 aremounted one adjacent each end of shaft 3 for rotation therewith, and asecond pair of sprocket wheels 8, 9 are mounted on shaft 4, one adjacenteach end thereof. A first chain 10 extends around sprocket wheels 6 and8 for rotation therewith, and a second chain 11 extends around sprockets7 and 9. A plurality of elongated spacer bars 12 are mounted on thechains 10, 11 with the respective bars 12 having their axes parallel tothe axes of the shafts 3 and 4. The respective bars 12 have theiropposed ends mounted on the chains 10 and 11 at intervals spacedtherealong equal to the desired spacing of the successive groups ofbottles to be fed from the mechanism. The chains 10 and 11 and thespacing bars 12 are driven around an endless path by a chain 13extending over a sprocket 14 rotatably fixed on the end of shaft 3.Chain 13 extends around and is driven by a sprocket 15 mounted on theshaft 16 of one end roller 17 of a driven belt conveyor 18.

An elongated fixed guide rail 38 extends parallel to the conveyor 1,between the conveyor and the feeding mechanism 2, adjacent the chain 11.A second guide rail 39 extends parallel to rail 38, in laterally spacedrelation thereto, with the rails 38, 39 cooperating to define a limitedpath through which the containers are fed to thereby limit the number ofcontainers in the individual rows, or ranks, passing through the feedingmechanism. The guide rail 39 is adjustable transversely of the conveyor1 so that the number of containers in the individual ranks may readilybe varied. Thus, the number of containers in the groups may be variedfrom a minimum of two to a maximum determined by the length of the feedbars 12 without in any way affecting the number of groups of containersfed by the mechanism.

The belt conveyor 18 extends from the discharge end of the bottlegrouping mechanism 2 to convey the groups of bottles fed therefromsuccessively beneath the carrier dispensing mechanism 20 and a carrierapplying mechanism 21. From the carrier applying mechanism, the conveyor18 delivers the packaged bottles for further handling or processing suchas by the package wrapping mechanism illustrated generally at 19.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, it is seen that the individual groups 22 ofbottles are moved on conveyor 18 beneath carrier feeding mechanism 20where a resilient apertured carrier 23 is fed onto each of the groupsmoving thereunder. Preferably, the carriers 23 are formed from arelatively thin sheet of elastic, plastic material such as polyethylenewith the individual carriers 23 being integrally joined into anelongated strip 24 which may be wound upon a reel, not shown, andunwound therefrom for feeding by the feeding mechanism 20. The carrierstrip 24 has a plurality of openings 25 formed therein between adjacentcarriers 23, and the strip is weakened along a score line 26 extendingtransversely of the strip 24 through the openings 25 so that theindividual carriers may readily be broken from the strip by the feedingmechanism as described herein below.

The feeding mechanism 20 comprises a chain 27 extending in an endlesspath over a driven sprocket 28 and a pair of idler sprockets 29, 30. Aplurality of pairs of outwardly extending fingers 31 are mounted onchain 27 at spaced intervals therearound, with the spacing of the pairsof fingers corresponding to the spacing between openings 25 ofsuccessive carriers 23 in strip 24. The individual fingers of each pairare mounted on adjacent links of the chain 27, and normally extendperpendicularly therefrom in adjacent parallel relation to one another.However, as the individual fing rs of each pair are mounted on separatelinks of chain, they will be separated as the chain is moved around theconvex portion of its path defined by the sprockets 28, 29 and 30 asillustrated in FIG. 1.

The carrier strip 24 is guided in substantially parallel spaced relationto the chain 27 along a portion of its path by spaced parallel guideplates 33, 34. The fingers 31 carried by the chain 27 project outwardlyfrom the chain between slots, not shown, in the guide plates 33, 34 toproject through the openings 25 in strip 24 to feed the carriers betweenthe guides 33, 34 as the chain 27 is driven around its path. As bestseen in FIG. 1, separation of the fingers 31 of each pair of fingers asthey move around the convex portion of their path defined by theperiphery of sprocket 28 separates a carrier 23 from the strip 24 bybreaking the carrier along the weakened score line 26.

When the apparatus is to be employed to package containers which are fedin two files only, the single chain feeding mechanism described above isadequate. However, the apparatus will normally be employed to packagecontainers fed in ranks of three or more, in which case a plurality ofsets of fingers are provided in a transverse row so that a set offingers project through each of the openings 25 of the strip 24 as shownin FIG. 3. This is accomplished by providing a pair of laterally spacedchains, with bars projecting between and mounted on the chains to carrythe fingers 31 much in the same manner as the spacer bars 12 mounted onthe chains 10-11 of the group forming mechanism. The number of fingers31 provided will, of course, be determined by the maximum number ofcontainers which the feeding mechanism 2 is capable of feeding in asingle rank. The extra fingers will not in any way interfere with thepackaging operation when less than the maximum number of containers arefed in the individual groups 22.

As shown in FIG. 1, the individual carrier is projected downwardly intothe path of a group of bottles moving on conveyor 18 so that the necksof the leading rank of bottles project through the apertures in thecarrier. Thus, when the individual carrier is severed from the strip byseparation of the fingers 31, the carrier will be guided by the necks ofthese bottles so that the carrier will fall onto the group of bottleswith a bottle neck projecting through each of the apertures in thecarrier and with the carrier resting on the shoulder of said bottles.Preferably, carrier feed mechanism 20 is driven by a chain 35 extendingbetween a sprocket 36 on shaft 3 and a sprocket 37 mounted on sprocket28, so that the container feeding mechanism 2 and the carrier feedingmechanism 20 are maintained in synchronism.

From the carrier feed mechanism 20, the individual groups 22, eachhaving a carrier 23 positioned on the shoulders of the bottles, aremoved through a carrier applying mechanism 21 where the carrier isadvanced simultaneously over the shoulder of the bottles and intoembracing relation with the cylindrical body portion of each of thebottles. As illustrated schematically in FIG. 1, the carrier applyingmechanism comprises an elongated beam 41 supported in vertically spacedparallel relation above conveyor 18 by a pair of chains 42, 43. Thechains 42, 43 are each supported for movement around an endless,generally triangular path, with beam 41 having one end supported onchain 42 and its other end supported on chain 43 for movement therewith.The chain 42 is supported by a driven sprocket 44, in idler sprocket 45and a driving sprocket 46, and chain 43 is supported by a drivensprocket 47 and idler sprockets 48 and 49. The sprocket 44 is driven bya chain 50 extending over a sprocket 51 rotatably fixed on the sprocket29 of carrier feed mechanism 20 and a sprocket 52 rotatably fixed onsprocket 44. Similarly, chain 43 is driven by a chain 53 extendingaround a sprocket 54 rotatably fixed on sprocket 46 and a sprocket 55rotatably fixed on sprocket 47.

Beam 41 is pivotally supported on chain 42 by a pin connection 56 and onchain 43 by a pin connection '57. Thus, by driving chains 42 and 43 atthe same rate, the beam 41 is moved around a triangular pathcorresponding to the triangular paths followed by the chains 42, 43.

A plurality of carrier applying heads 60 are mounted on the beam 41,with the heads 60 being spaced on beam 41 at interval corresponding tothe spacing of the groups of bottles 22 moving on the conveyor 18. Thecarrier applying heads 60 are of the general type illustrated in ourabove mentioned co-pending patent application, and include a pluralityof resiliently biased fingers 61 adapted to engage the inner peripheryof the individual apertures of the carriers to force the carriers overthe shoulders of the bottles as the heads 60 are forced downwardly bybeam 41.

By synchronizing the rate of movement of the chains 42, 43 with that ofthe conveyor, the horizontal component of movement of the beam '41 alongthe length of conveyor 18 can be made substantially equal to the rate atwhich the conveyor 18 is moving as the beam moves down the first segmentof its triangular path, i.e., that portion inclined downwardly towardand longitudinally along the length of the conveyor, and up the secondsegment of its path, i.e., that portion inclined upwardly from andlongitudinally along the conveyor. This rate will, of course, varyslightly as the beam 41 departs from a true triangular path to movearound the rounded corner defined by the sprockets 45, 48. However, bymaintaining the angle between the first and second segments of the pathfairly large, this variation will not be sufficiently great to upset thebottles on the conveyor or to cause slippage of the bottles.

By coordinating the movement of the bottle group feeding mechanism 2,the carrier feeding mechanism 20, and the carrier applying mechanism 21,each of the carrier applying heads 60 will be in vertical alignment witha group of bottles having a carrier 23 supported on their shoulder asthe beam 41 moves downwardly toward the conveyor 18. Also, by providingan appropriate length for the chains 42, 43, depending upon the numberof carrier heads 60 supported on the beam 41, any desired number ofgroups of bottles may have the carrier 23 applied thereonsimultaneously.

As illustrated schematically in FIG. 4, the packages of containers movefrom the carrier applying station through a wrapping mechanismillustrated generally at 19. This wrapping mechanism may consist of afirst driven belt conveyor 65 for conveying the packages through aninitial wrapping mechanism illustrated generally at 66, and a seconddriven belt conveyor 67 for conveying the wrapped packages past aheat-shrinking station illustrated generally at 68. A continuous web ofa heat-shrinkable plastic film 69 is fed from a reel 70 onto thesupporting surface of belt 65 so that the packages are supportedthereon. A second web of heat-shinkable plastic film 71 is fed from asecond reel 72 and deposited loosely over the top of the packages. Aplurality of wrapping bars 73 mounted on an endless chain drivemechanism, illustrated generally at 74, wraps the top film 71 over thetop of the individual packages and downwardly between successivepackages into engagement with the lower film 69. The bars 73 aresuitably heated to seal and cut off the two sheets of film to produceindividual, loosely wrapped packages as illustrated in FIG. 5.

The loosely wrapped packages are discharged from conveyor 65 ontoconveyor 67, which conveys them past a series of nozzles 75 discharginga blast of hot air to quickly shrink the plastic film and form a tightlywrapped package 76 as shown in FIG. 6.

Referring now to 'FIG. 7, an alternate embodiment of the invention isillustrated in which a series of cylindrical plugs 131 are substitutedfor the pairs of fingers 31 of the first described embodiment. In thisembodiment, the cylindrical plugs 131 project through the circularbottlereceiving apertures 132 of the individual carriers 123. Thediameter of the plugs 131 are substantially equal to the diameter of theapertures 132. Since the spacing between successive plugs 131 is greaterthan that between successive fingers 31, there will be a greaterseparation upon movement of the plugs around the curved portion of theirendless path to thereby provide a more positive separation of theindividual carriers 123. Also, by maintaining the diameter of theindividual plugs substantially equal to the diameter of the aperturethrough which it projects, the tendency of the carriers to buckle willbe minimized and a more positive seperation will be assured.

In summary, the individual bottles to be packaged are moved from a highspeed filling and capping machine to the grouping and feeding mechanismwhere they are automatically arranged by rank and file between the guiderails 38 and 39 by the action of the continuously driven conveyorbelt 1. The guide rail 39 is adjusted to permit the desired number ofbottles to be formed in each rank, and the grouping and feedingmechanism 2 separates and feeds the bottles in spaced groups onto thedriven conveyor 18. It is noted that the spacing between successivegroups of bottles will remain constant regardless of the number ofbottles in the individual group so that the number of packages which theapparatus is capable of forming is unaffected by the number of thebottles in the individual package.

The carrier feeding mechanism and the carrier applying mechanism areeach constructed to accommodate a group of bottles of the maximum sizecapable of being fed by the feeding mechanism and, therefore, noadjustment to this portion of the apparatus is required when changingfrom one size package to another. It is only necessary to provide thecorrect size of carrier web 24.

While we have described preferred embodiment of our invention, we wishit understood that we do not intend to be restricted solely thereto, butthat we do intend to include all embodiments thereof which would beapparent to those skilled in the art and which come within the spiritand scope of our invention.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for assembling bottles into packages for carrying,said apparatus including a conveyor, means for feeding the bottles to bepackaged onto said conveyor for movement thereon in spaced groups eachcontaining a predetermined number of bottles, carrier feed means fordepositing a resilient apertured carrier onto each of said groups ofbottles, and carrier applying means for advancing said carriers intoembracing relation with the individual bottles of each group, theimprovement wherein said carrier applying means comprises, a beam membersupported in overlying vertically spaced relation to said conveyor, .aplurality of carrier applying heads mounted on said :beam member inspaced relation to one another along said conveyor, the spacing of saidcarrier applying heads corresponding to the spacing of groups of bottlesmoving on said conveyor, and drive means for moving said beam and thecarrier heads supported thereon vertically toward and away from saidconveyor and simultaneously longitudinally along said conveyor in thedirection of and substantially at the same rate of movement of groups ofbottles moving on said conveyor to apply a carrier to a plurality ofgroups of bottles simultaneously as said groups are moving on saidconveyor.

2. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein saiddrive means includes means for moving said beam member and the carrierapplying heads supported thereon around a closed path including a firstsegment extending toward and inclined in the direction of movement ofsaid conveyor and a second segment extending away from and inclined inthe direction of movement of said conveyor.

3. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein saiddrive means moves said beam along said first and second segments at arate to provide a horizontal rate of movement substantially equal to andin the same direction as that of said conveyor.

4. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 3 wherein saiddrive means moves said beam around a substantially triangular pathincluding .a third segment extending generally parallel to and in theopposite direc tion of movement of said conveyor.

5. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein saiddrive means comprises a pair of endless chains each mounted for movementabout a generally triangular path defined by three sprockets positionedadjacent each end of said beam, means for driving said pair of chainssimultaneously about their respective paths, and means mounting each endof said beam to the chain positioned adjacent thereto for movementtherewith about their respective triangular path.

6. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein saidcarrier feed means deposits a carrier onto each of said groups with theneck of each bottle extending through an aperture in the carrier withthe carrier resting on the shoulder of the bottles in the group, andsaid carrier applying heads each engage a carrier on a difierent groupof bottles to progressively advance a carrier over the shoulders of thebottles and into embracing relation with the body portion of each bottleof a plurality of groups of bottles simultaneously.

7. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 6 wherein saidcarriers are interconnected to form an elongated strip, said striphaving an opening formed therein between adjacent carriers and beingweakened along a line transverse to said strip and extending throughsaid opening, and said carrier feed means includes means to sever theindividual carriers from said elongated strip along said weakened line.

8. The package asembling apparatus defined in claim 7 wherein saidcarrier feed means comprises guides means for guiding said elongatedstrip along a fixed path, a feed chain mounted adjacent said guidemeans, means driving said chain along said guide means, and meanscarried by said chain for projecting through said openings to drive saidelongated strip along said fixed path.

9. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 8 wherein saidmeans carried by said chain comprises a plurality of pairs of fingers,with the respective fingers of each pair mounted rigidly on andprojecting outwardly from adjacent links of said chain and with thefingers of each pair being positioned in closely adjacent parallelrelation to one another.

10. The package assembling apparatus defined in claim 9 wherein saidchain is driven around a convex surface to separate the fingers of eachpair to thereby sever the individual carriers from said elongated stripalong said weakened line.

.11. An apparatus for applying resilient apertured carriers to groups ofbottles moving on a conveyor comprising a beam member, means supportingsaid beam in overlying vertically spaced relation to the bottleconveyor, a carrier applying head mounted on said beam member, and drivemeans for moving said beam and the carrier applying head supportedthereon around a closed substantially triangular path above saidconveyor, said triangular path including a first segment extendingtoward and inclined in the direction of movement of said conveyor, and asecond segment extending away from and inclined in the direction ofmovement of said conveyor, said drive means driving said beam at a ratesuch that the component of movement thereof along said first and secondsegments in the direction of movement of said belt is substantiallyequal to the rate of movement of said belt.

12. The apparatus for applying resilient apertured carriers to groups ofbottles as defined in claim 11 comprising a plurality of said carrierapplying heads mounted on said beam in spaced relation to one another.along the direction of movement of said conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,936,558 5/1960 Glazer 53-1963,032,944 5/1962 Hull et a1. 5348 3,070,928 1/1963 Ganz 5348 3,285,41011/1966 Brunsing 53-48 3,346,939 10/1967 Farquhar 53128 X THERON E.CONDON, Primary Examiner.

R. L. SPRUILL, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

